Joel's in a soup... no make that a Spicy Indian curry!

Joel Stein caused nothing short of an internet tidal wave, when T.I.M.E. ran his article, My own Private India. Rarely have I seen an article cause so much acrimony on the web. Facebookdom, Twitterverse and blogosphere erupted with reactions and counter-reactions. I am pretty sure there is a reaction out there echoing your thoughts on the subject, no matter what they are. Kal penn reacted, & so did Sandip roy as well as the Geat Bong. Personally, I re-read the article a week later yesterday and I did not think much of it.


In my several discussions about it, I liked the reaction that came from madame pixiedust.

The sheer amount of attention that Joel Stein’s article is getting is what really disturbs me, and not really the “humor” that he seemed to be projecting in his piece. It was an ostensibly funny article that makes superficial and unimaginative digs at the brown folks taking over Edison, an apparent nostalgic piece of how his hometown was metamorphosing before his own eyes. However, the irreverence of the article is what exactly it deserves to get.



Unfortunately, a lot of humor involves attacking stereotypes – digs at Americans are a case in point. But I am not sure what constitutes crossing a line? Do you not make any such digs at all? Or you do and then issue a footnote explaining the why, how, when of it? Do you only make racist jokes in an explicitly comedic environment (as our beloved stand-up comedians do) to ensure that they are not taken seriously? Or do you also make a joke about yourself to ensure a safety net – after all he who can laugh at himself can laugh at anything right? It is difficult to ascertain such complexities given jokes are often funny when they are being directed at issues that come with some tension, ideas that some people take just too seriously. To a certain extent I concur, that the person making the joke should be mindful of his audience and the climate before cracking something irreverent about something that could be sensitive. But in general, when you are broadcasting a joke, it is difficult to control this. Really, opening your mouth to spew out humor is always risky. Because you are more often than not targeting a topic that could be very serious to someone, anyone else.


In light of this, we probably need to react contextually. Especially for an article like the one that Stein wrote only because it accomplishes nothing. It is neither nostalgic, nor funny, nor imaginative. Nothing that he says has not been said before. Am I the only one who thinks that this article does not deserve the attention it is getting?

+1.

All I want to say is T.I.M.E. should have probably seen this coming.